Progress on the Star Sampler Swap...

Duck Paddle

Kaleidoscope

Peaceful Hours

Both Lisa and Luisa's blocks arrived in the mail recently. The three above are from Lisa (love the names!) from Marsha McClosky's Block Party. Luisa posted hers on her blog. As you can see, her ochre and rust added much needed warmth to the overall color scheme. These swap blocks are so inspiring, both in workmanship and design. I think the cross-fertilization of ideas and visions is going to make for a much more interesting quilt than I could ever have made on my own. I want to make a double quilt, and perhaps a lap quilt out of extra blocks that i've been making along the way. Haven't decided yet on a setting, but thinking of using a very simple alternate block mainly in indigo, to sort of frame the stars.

A bit premature, I know, but I felt like posting something Christmasy.

You know those funny names that blocks have? I've always been intrigued by the one called "Hobson's Kiss". It raises so many questions. One can't help wondering who this Hobson was and, if he was such a great kisser, why the quilter wasn't on a first name basis with him? Or was this a legendary kiss someone of her acquaintance had experienced? And if so, what did the block design have to do with the kiss? I made five of these today, just because of the mysterious name.

Still working on the indigo and white sampler blocks, but hesitate to post pics, as I want them to be a surprise for the swap recipients. We finally decided to make them all 9" for this swap, which means i've got about 25 10" orphan blocks(!). If anyone happens to be interested in doing a 10" indigo/ white swap, I'm ready! (You can see some examples of the blocks i've already made below.)

We've also decided to include more warm colors, like cinnabar and ochre to warm up the overall color scheme slightly. I've been laying mine out on an indigo background, thinking i'll alternate these blocks with plain indigo, to make things less busy. I like this layout better than just sashing, as the blocks are so different.